John Adams
John Adams was the second President of the United States and before then, the first Vice President. His Vice President was Thomas Jefferson. He generally was a Federalist, but was not an official member. He was also a Founding father. As a Founding Father he was a hero. But power went to his head and essentially became a power-hungry dictator as President. Before Politics Before being a delegate to the First Continental Congress, Adams worked as a trial lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts, where he gained notoriety for successfully defending the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre. He persuaded the jury that "law should be deaf to the clamors of the populace." Many angry conservatives at the time were very ticked at this, because they thought that law wasn't real or that Americans shouldn't defend their oppressors. He married Abigail Adams, and had three children. American Revolution During the American Revolution, Adams served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and is given credit by such experts such as HBO for "uniting the States of America." In 1780, John Adams said " There is nothing which I dread so much as division of the republic into two great parties." Ironically by 1797, he would be the leader of the Federalist Party against the Democratic-Republican Party. Vice Presidency During the system of the time, during a presidential election, the person who received the most votes became President, while the runner-up was named the Vice President. George Washington obviously won the election with 69 votes, Adams was second with 34. On April 21, 1789, he was sworn in as the First Vice President of the United States, 9 days before Washington was sworn in. On July 18, 1789, as President of the Senate, he cast his first tie-breaking vote. He cast 31 in total, more than any vice president. On at least one occasion, Vice President Adams persuaded senators to vote against legislation he opposed, and at the start of his time in office he frequently lectured the body on procedural and policy matters. Presidency Adams's successfully avoided a war with France. This was one of his most notable achievement as President. Many Republicans at that time, including his friend and successor Thomas Jefferson, favored the French, but he stood by principle. He has taken critique, however, for his signing the Alien and Sedition Acts, which was perceived by some people to be in violation of the First Amendment (and the Due Process clause). It is interesting for Adams's conservative critics to fly at Adams for this when our last President was basically violating the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights. (see USA PATRIOT Act ) He died shortly after his son, John Quincy Adams, was elected President. We can all agree that this father-son pair was way better than the two Bushes. External links *John Adams Category:American People Category:American Revolution Category:Presidents Category:Founding Fathers of the United States of America Category:Liberal Christians Category:Federalists Category:People Category:Vice Presidents Category:Power Hungry Category:US Ambassadors Category:Continental Congressmen